The present disclosure generally relates to a laser for surgical applications. More particularly, the present disclosure relates to non-C02 laser generators (e.g., non-C02 laser devices, implemented, for example, based on quantum-well diode arrays) that achieve approximately the same water absorption levels typically produced by a C02 laser. By achieving the approximate absorption levels of water of those produced by C02 lasers without using a C02 laser, surgical operations can be accomplished with heretofore unrealized results.
The C02 laser was described by Patel et al. (see, for example, C. K. N. Patel, W. L. Faust and R. A Mcfarlane, “CW Laser Action on Rotational Transitions of the +u +g Vibrational Band of C02”, Bulletin of American Physical Society 9, 500 (1964), and C. K. N. Patel, “Interpretation of C02 Optical Maser Experiments,” Physical Review Letters 12, 21, 588-590 (1964))
Preliminary laboratory studies using a 20 W C02 laser for liver surgery in dogs were reported in 1966. The C02 laser is used in a wide variety of surgical operations in various fields including otolaryngology, gynecology, aesthetic dermatology, neurology, and general surgery. The C02 laser is also being used extensively for veterinarian surgery.
C02 lasers have several drawbacks. One drawback is the large and cumbersome dimensions of C02 lasers due to the size of C02 laser tubes. Another drawback is the long wavelength of the radiation produced by C02-type laser generators that makes it difficult to use fiber delivery devices/instruments (e.g., optical fibers) to couple and/or guide radiation produced by C02 laser generators to a target location, thus constraining the use of C02 laser generators with, for example, flexible endoscopes and bronchoscopes (which are configured to receive fiber delivery devices) to perform surgical applications in the interior of patients' bodies. Another drawback of the C02 laser is its relatively large spot size resulting from the large diffraction limit associated with the long wavelength of the radiation produced by such laser systems.